Hollywood studio chief loses bid for film credit

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-01-27 10:14

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Gray has lost a behind-the-scenes bid to claim Oscar credit as a producer of "The Departed," a best-picture nominee distributed by rival studio Warner Bros.

A panel of about 20 Hollywood filmmakers with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided on Thursday night to deny Grey's appeal for a producer's credit on the film, upholding an earlier ruling by the Producers Guild of America.

The decision means just one producer, British-born Graham King, will be permitted to take the stage at the Kodak Theater on February 25 to accept the Oscar should "The Departed" win for best picture, academy spokesman John Pavlik said on Friday.

The academy has an agreement with the Producers Guild to follow its recommendations in assigning Oscar credit to movies without further review, unless the guild's decision is challenged.

In this case, Gray or individuals acting on his behalf -- the academy will not reveal which -- lobbied Oscar organizers to override the Producers Guild and put the Paramount executive's name back on the film.

Gray, once a leading Hollywood talent manager and film producer, worked on "The Departed" before taking the job as chairman and CEO at Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc., and before shooting on the picture began.

But the Producers Guild decided that King alone deserved credit in terms of Oscar recognition, even though on-screen credits list three others as producer -- Gray, actor Brad Pitt (whose film company Plan B Productions was involved in the movie) and the film's director, Martin Scorsese.

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